Your landlord is well within the legal limits of "reasonable" time with a 3 hour response. He could have easily been on the telephone for an hour trying to find a plumber who was immediately available. No judge will fault him 3 hours, 3 hours is not very long. 3 hours is not even remotely "negligent in repairs".

You can not withhold rent, you pay rent until you move out. Because the landlord was not negligent you are not going to get a judge to let you withhold rent. Withheld rent always goes to the landlord after the repairs anyway, you do not get a free meal ticket because of the leak.

HOWEVER, even without his verbal agreement to let you move out today, you can move out because of the renovations that will be needed in your apartment. He most likely needs to replace the walls, and ceiling. You can not be forced to stay during major renovation.

As far as your personal items go, you file a claim with your insurance company. This is why you have renters insurance, to cover this sort of thing. His insurance does not cover any of your personal property, nor is he liable for your damages.

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Put in your notice, be sure to be present for the walk through and get him to hand you something in writing ON THAT DAY, that allows you to leave.

He cannot evict you without going through the court system, just like you cannot stop paying rent without going through the court system.

You cannot "fine" him for not fixing the hole or anything else. If you do not pay him for January, he can charge you a late fee for that month and if you don’t pay it, turn it over to collections and tell your future landlords if they call for a reference that "you never paid the last month’s rent" b/c you didn’t.

Just b/c the security deposit is the same amount as the rent, doesn’t mean you can use that for the last month of rent…it’s for damages.

If he tries to lock you out, call the police.
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If you had a written lease with the previous owner, I believe the same conditions would have passed on to the new owner without a new written lease to replace the original.

I do not think you should plan on using your security deposit as the last month’s rent without written approval from the LL. If he has offered to refund Dec. rent and give you the security deposit, get him to put it in writing and get out of there.

I don’t know about the rental market in Ohio, but winter is a slow time here in Austin. People looking to rent have less competition and may find better deals.

For best source of information about your personal situation, I suggest you contact a local tenant’s council or legal adviser. Have your original lease in hand so they can review the terms.

Good luck
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TX REALTOR

The law requires the LL to respond in a reasonable amount of time. The court has held a reasonable amount of time is what ever it takes for a plumber / electrician / carpenter to schedule the repairs. If the plumber said I am booked up until next week, next week would be reasonable since the LL can’t control the plumber.

The mold depends entirely upon the type of mold it is. There are well over a million types of cataloged and named molds. Only a few are known to be harmful to people. You will need to prove the mold growing in the apt. is one of the harmful species, which are really rare since there hasn’t been a single death in the U.S. recorded from house hold mold. The courts will also look at where the mold is growing. Is it from lack of good house cleaning, or caused by plumbing leaks, poor insulation, etc.

As to whether you LL will stand by giving your deposit and rent check back, no one knows. Go ask the LL if he is still willing to do that, and move if he is.

If he isn’t willing to let you out, then give notice and move since this TLL relationship will never be amiable again and it is much more pleasant to live someplace where you have a professional relationship if not friendly relationships.

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Get you a lawyer or go to small claims court and sue the slum landlord.
Gallons of WATER????
Document and proceed. Do not stop. go pass go.
Emotional distress is shown in your post also. Your post is packed with so many transgression SEE A LAWYER.
You have too many issues here to address. New baby!!

Nasty Sum Landlord.
He has a responsibility to good paying tenants especially.
Roofing and plumbing is number one on the list!
You can’t live in a place with leaks, moisture and stickiness.
Sue that So and So for $100,000 at least (ask the lawyer)
and document and take pictures.

Additionally: Sometimes it’s better not to have a rental agreement. Reason, it can lock you into the landlords position. Sometimes if you don’t have an agreement, the good lawyer can go beyond any agreement that the landlord has and incorporate other rental standards to a higher degree.
Try a legal aid society. They love "Slum Lords" and are eager to help step by step and you may not have to pay rent while they are filing your action! Right is on your side. Don’t mess it up.
Landlord do have a certain to respond. By him responding just looking is a not effectively doing anything, but acknowledging that there is and was a problem that needed addressing.

Good Luck.
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